NCEA identifies higher performing schools that meet one or both of the following criteria over the most recent three years: 1) students experience above-predicted growth based on a value-added analysis, or 2) absolute student achievement using the schools' Advanced Performance results on the 2009-2011 Augmented Benchmark Exams. (Proficient Performance results were used for the 2009-2011 Grade 11 Literacy Exam.) Both measures identify schools that perform unusually well given the student populations they serve. For a complete description of the analysis, visit our Higher Performing Schools web page at http://www.nc4ea.org/arkansas/higher-performing-schools/methodology/.

We define continuously enrolled students as those students who have been enrolled in the school at least three years. If the school's grade span does not allow for three years of continuous enrollment (e.g., a 7th grader at a Grade 6 to 8 campus), continuously enrolled students are those who have been enrolled in the district at least three years and at the school as long as the grade span allows. For charter schools, this last requirement changes to drop the continuous enrollment in the district requirement. Typical factors that affect the number of continuously enrolled students in each grade are school size and student mobility.

1. Ineligible Schools
   We use data provided by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) to compile our Higher Performing Schools List. At times, data issues arise such as the following:
   • Too few students.
   • School was not open for each of the three years included in the analysis.
   • The school's grade span includes only grades with no test data.
2. Student Performance Levels Did Not Qualify
   If a school is eligible but did not make the 2011 List, then its student performance levels did not meet our requirements as listed below:
   • The school's percentile rank in NCEA's performance criteria was not high enough to be included.
   • The school's performance was not consistent across the three years included in the analysis.
   • The school did not meet state standards as follows:
     • The school did not make AYP in the latest year.
     • The school did not test at least 90 percent of students for subjects that are not counted for Adequate Yearly Progress (Science) in the latest year.

The NCEA Higher Performing Schools List is a more select group of schools than the Smart Accountability Achieving list and is identified by one of two measures (see Question 1). In 2011, ADE identified over 41 percent of Arkansas schools as Achieving. In comparison, the 2011 NCEA Higher Performing Schools List identifies approximately 8 percent of the state's public schools.

The specific metrics used by NCEA for analysis are different from those used by ADE in the Smart Accountability Ratings.

• Passing vs. Growth
  The Arkansas Smart Accountability Ratings are based on the percentage of students meeting the Proficient standard on the spring 2011 exams. By contrast, the first NCEA measure looks at student growth.
• Higher Standard of Achievement
  The percentage of students reaching Advanced on the Augmented Benchmark Exam is used for the second NCEA measure rather than the stateÕs Proficient standard.
• More Years of Data
  The NCEA Higher Performing Schools List is based on performance in three school years: 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011. State ratings may be based on performance in a single year of data.